


the best advice

by thestarsaretalking



Category: Space Force (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining, Practice Kissing, Relationship Advice, romcom type beat, that's a tag??? sweet!, tony gives dating advice its rly cute i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:00:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27767134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestarsaretalking/pseuds/thestarsaretalking
Summary: Tony helps Chan land a date with Angela, which would have been fine if he hadn’t had a giant crush on Chan.
Relationships: Angela Ali & Chan Kaifang, Chan Kaifang/F. Tony Scarapiducci
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	the best advice

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to lyn on twitter! thank you for being such a funny and kind friend :) but no thank you for creating the monstrosity that is jimmy o bangs i will never forgive you for bringing it into existence. we all miss you so much, please come back to us soon <3  
> (also, there’s one line about dehydration that i included just for a few of my moots on twit so see if you can spot that while you’re reading)

“Hey, Tony! What’s up?” 

Just as Tony was scrolling through his phone with his feet propped up on his very expensive mahogany desk, Chan walked into Tony’s office. Startled by Chan’s sudden appearance, Tony nearly tumbled out of his chair but managed to catch himself before he did. 

“Hey, Chan. What can I do for you?” Tony offered a giant grin and didn’t bother to try to contain his excitement. He and Chan had been growing closer after they came up with an incredible birthday president for the POTUS, and talking to Chan never failed to brighten Tony’s day. Also, Tony might have had a small crush on the scientist.

Chan nervously smiled and tucked his hands behind his back, a gesture that Tony adored (though, he would never admit it). “I was wondering if you could help me with something.” 

“Yeah, sure. What do you need help with?” Tony turned off his phone and propped both of his elbows on his desk, giving Chan his undivided attention. 

“I know we don’t know each other that well, but I was wondering if you give some dating advice. I want to ask Angela out and I didn’t know who else to turn to, so I came to you to ask for help,” Chan admittedly sheepishly. He was clearly blushing, and Tony would be lying if he said he didn’t find Chan’s nervousness endearing. 

“You came to me for dating advice? Well, you’ve come to the right place.” Tony’s smile widened when he saw relief cross Chan’s face. For a moment, Tony allowed himself to relish the fact that Chan chose to come to him for help. Then, he cleared his throat and leaned forward on his desk. “So, tell me about you and Angela. I need to know more to help. Why do you want to land a date with her?” 

“We’ve been friends for a few months, and I really really enjoy spending time with her. She always makes me laugh, and she’s so sweet. She’s just a really awesome person, you know?” Chan wistfully replied, and Tony nodded in understanding. 

“I get that. Have you ever dropped any hints that you liked her? Like, slipped in any mention of being interested in her romantically or…?” Tony trailed off as if he was waiting for Chan to fill in the blank. 

As he took a seat down on the chair in front of Tony’s desk, Chan paused for a second before he frowned and answered, “Actually, I don’t think so. We mostly text and it’s pretty friendly most of the time.”

“Can I take a look at the texts?” Tony inquired and Chan handed over his phone. As Tony scrolled through Chan and Angela’s texts, part of him was surprised at how funny Chan’s messages could be. 

At the same time, he was disappointed that, through the texts, Chan was friend-zoning himself and barely leaving any room for doubt that he and Angela could be much more than friends. As he handed Chan his phone back, Tony admitted, “Honestly, if you want to get with her, these texts aren’t great. You need a lot of work to get yourself out of the friend-zone but don’t worry! I got your back and I’ll help you out. Meet me in the cafeteria tomorrow during lunch.” 

“Great, thank you so much!” Chan gave Tony a grateful smile before he stood up and left Tony’s office. Tony, suddenly realizing that he had just agreed to help Chan, the person he had accidentally caught feelings for, land a date with somebody else and groaned, dropping his head into his hands. 

_This is going to be so fun,_ he thought to himself.

~

When Tony walked into the cafeteria the next day, he saw Chan sitting alone at a table for two, sipping his cup of coffee as he was scrolling on his phone. He had an adorable expression of concentration on his face, and Tony waited an extra second, allowing himself to admire Chan for a moment before he walked over to the table. “Chan the man! Are you ready to become the man of her dreams?” 

“Sure,” Chan nodded earnestly, putting his phone in the pocket of his lab coat. 

Although Tony was feeling anything but calm, he pretended to be his usual suave self and leaned back in his chair as he said, “First things first, describe your best qualities. Like, what do you have that would make a girl want to date you?” 

Chan shifted in his seat and furrowed his brows as he thought about his answer for a second. “Well, I’m a scientist and I love astrology and botany, but I know for sure Angela isn’t into that. Uh, I collect plants and I like cooking. I’m also very organized. I’m a dog person. I can also name stars, which comes in really handy while stargazing. I attended a few scientific competitions when I was in college and my team and I won first place at nationals. Oh, I also spoke at some science conferences right after I graduated college.” 

As Chan listed off his hobbies, Tony did everything he could to not gush “How are you even real?” because, in his eyes, Chan was perfect. His nerdiness was unbelievably endearing, and Tony wanted nothing more than to drop onto one knee and pull out a ring (this want was partially fueled by his flair for dramatics). With all of his stunning qualities, Chan should really have no problem landing a date with anybody he wanted. 

Instead of truthfully sharing what was on his mind, Tony settled for saying, “Those sound like some solid qualities, so you’re good there.” 

“You really think so? You don’t think I’m too nerdy for her or anything?” Chan nervously asked, toying with a paper straw wrapping. 

Tony shook his head firmly. “No, not at all! I bet she’ll think it’s really cute.” 

“Thanks,” Chan sighed in relief and broke into a small smile. “So, how do I ask her out?” 

Leaning forward, Tony placed his palms flat on the table and responded, “Well, you first have to let her know you’re interested. You haven’t really been doing that, so you should start dropping some hints.” 

“Like…?” Chan raised his eyebrows skeptically as if he didn’t believe that flirting with somebody could be as simple as dropping hints.

“I mean, if you were going to flirt with her irl,” Chan rolled his eyes at Tony’s abbreviation, “which you shouldn’t by the way because it requires a lot of skill-” 

Crossing his arms, Chan protested “I’m pretty sure I can flirt with a girl face-to-face. I don’t have to do it through text.” 

“Oh yeah? Well, can you do this?” Tony bit his bottom lip, leaned a little closer, and lowered his voice as he seductively said. “Hey.” 

Any sane person would’ve burst out laughing at Tony’s attempt at flirting because, to be honest, he looked ridiculous. But Chan found it oddly attractive, and he reasoned that he was probably attracted to Tony because his flirting techniques were working.

“I can do that.” 

Tony moved away from Chan and arched an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah? Well, why don’t you give it a try then? Let’s see it.” 

Chan leaned forward and tried to imitate the look Tony had given him earlier. Admittedly, Tony thought that he looked charming, but because Chan was naturally adorable, Tony couldn’t take his attempt at being seductive seriously. 

“You almost got it. But maybe just stick to texting and only flirt with her face-to-face when you’re asking her out on a date,” Tony grinned, instinctively reaching across the table to brush a loose strand of hair out of Chan’s face. 

“Speaking of first dates, I still have no clue where I want to take Angela on our hypothetical date,” admitted Chan as he went back to playing with the straw wrapper. 

An idea popped into Tony’s mind and his eyes lit up as he suggested, “Come over to my house after work tomorrow. I have an idea.” 

Chan was confused by Tony’s offer, but he decided to show up at Tony’s house fully prepared to be surprised by some elaborate set-up. So when Tony opened the door wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, Chan was surprised. He had never seen Tony wearing something other than a suit, and he was shocked that Tony looked really good with his natural curls and casual clothing. 

“Chan! Come in. Perfect timing. The popcorn’s in the microwave right now.” Tony opened the door and let Chan into his house. 

As Chan followed Tony into the living room, he frowned in confusion, “Popcorn?” 

The microwave beeped and Tony broke into a grin. “It’s ready! Make yourself comfortable on the couch. I’ll grab the popcorn and be right back.” 

Tony rushed over to the kitchen to take the popcorn out of the microwave, and Chan sat down on the couch, taking in his surroundings. Tony’s house was much tidier than Chan expected. He had been to Tony’s house once to drop a package off from Naird, but he hadn’t been inside the house. 

He assumed Tony’s place would be messy, but all of Tony’s Blu-Ray DVDs were neatly placed on the shelf next to the television and there were a few nerdy decorations, such as a lava lamp and a Rubik’s cube, placed on the coffee table in front of the couch. There were movie posters on the wall, and Chan smiled when he saw that Tony had a poster of _Star Wars: A New Hope_ near a window. 

“I made us some popcorn! We’re binge-watch some rom-coms tonight.” Tony handed Chan the warm bowl of buttery popcorn before he walked over to his shelf of DVDs and took out three DVDs. 

“Why are we watching rom-coms?” questioned Chan as he watched Tony tilt his head to read the titles of the movies on the spines of the DVD cases. 

After Tony took out another few DVDs from the shelf, he returned to the couch and sat down next to Chan as he held up two DVDs and explained, “Because you can learn from them. These rom-coms will help you figure out what to do and what not to do when you’re dating someone. And they’re just fun to watch. So, are we watching _10 Things I Hate About You_ or 1 _3 Going On 30_ first?” 

“I actually don’t watch rom-coms so I have no clue what either of them is about,” Chan tried not to break into a smile at Tony’s exaggerated look of shock, “but _10 Things I Hate About You_ sounds cool.”   
  


“Oh my god, I can’t believe you don’t watch rom-coms! I’m going to change your mind by the end of tonight.” Tony hopped off the couch, turned on the TV, and put the DVD into the DVD player. Chan wanted to point out that they could easily just stream the movies digitally on Netflix, but he decided to let Tony happily use his DVDs.

At first, when the movie started playing, Chan kept some distance between him and Tony, worried that getting too close to him would make him uncomfortable, but, sometime between watching _10 Things I Hate About You_ and _Two Weeks Notice_ , Chan found himself pressed up next to Tony, their shoulders touching as they watched the movie playing. Occasionally, their hands would bump when they both reached for the popcorn at the same time, and Chan noted that Tony didn’t appear to mind their proximity.

Sometimes, Tony would point at the screen and say “See that? Don’t do that. That’s not a good move.” and Chan would nod, pretending to take note of Tony’s comment when, in reality, he was too busy thinking about how ethereal Tony looked, his expression of concentration illuminated by the blue light of the TV screen. Little did Chan know that Tony was also sneaking glances over at him and thinking about how much he loved the small smile on Chan’s face.

Then, during a kiss scene, Chan decided to remark, “I don’t get why first kisses in movies are always so smooth. The first kisses I’ve had with people I’ve been with have always been so awkward.”

“For real? Why?” Tony stopped watching the movie for a moment to peer over at Chan curiously. 

Chan shrugged offhandedly, reached over to grab some more popcorn, and tossed a few pieces into his mouth. “I guess I don’t really have much kissing experience.” 

“I can help you practice kissing,” Tony blurted out before he could realize how outlandish his suggestion sounded to any normal human being. 

It was Chan’s turn to be shocked. “Really? You’d be up for that?”

“Yeah, you know, it might help you. I mean, I’m sure you’re great already but it’s, uh, always good to practice, right?” 

After Chan stared at F. Tony for a moment, he agreed, “Sure. Let’s do it.” 

  
“We’re really doing this,” Tony thought aloud, startled that Chan was willing to try it out. He adjusted his position on the couch so he could face Chan and tried not to think about the fact that he was about to kiss the person he had feelings for. Shutting out his thoughts, Tony placed a gentle hand on the side of Chan’s face and nervously informed, “Okay, uh, I’m gonna kiss you now.” 

“Okay,” Chan whispered. Tony leaned closer, closed his eyes, and pressed his lips against Chan’s. Tony’s thoughts were replaced with white noise as he focused on the sensation of Chan’s soft lips against his. He could feel Chan’s hand wrapping around his waist, and Tony took this as permission to deepen the kiss.

Chan tasted like buttery popcorn, which was probably the least romantic taste to most people, but Tony had never relished the taste of popcorn more. He tried not to let on that he wanted nothing more than to let the kiss turn into a full-on makeout session because, to put Tony’s desires into a more poetic light, Chan was water, and Tony was dehydrated as fuck. 

When Tony’s self-control finally kicked in, Tony pulled away from Chan, breathing heavily as he tried to compose himself. “So, um, thoughts?” 

“Wow, that was… Can we do it again? Just for practice, you know.” In the dim light, Tony could see that Chan’s face was flushed as he spoke. There were still the distant sounds of the movie in the background, but Tony couldn’t care less about whether Jenny ended up with Matty or not; all he could think about the feeling of Chan’s lips pressed against his. 

Tony brushed a loose curl out his face and replied, “Sure. For practice.” 

Chan and Tony ended up “practicing” kissing for almost half an hour, but, to Tony, it only felt like a few minutes. He was too invested in drowning in the sensation of his and Chan’s mouths slotted perfectly together to perceive time. 

Only when the credits started rolling for the movie did Chan reluctantly pull away and say, “Uh, I think that’s enough kissing practice for now.” 

“Yeah, no problem. Just friends helping out friends.” Tony attempted not to cringe inwardly at how insincere he sounded. He cleared his throat and focused on steering the conversation to something else to stop thinking about how good Chan was at kissing for somebody who claimed he needed kissing practice. “So, do you know what you want to wear on your date?” 

Chan looked down at his jeans and flannel shirt. “Probably just an outfit like this. Nothing too fancy.” 

“This? You’re going to wear this? No, you’re not. I’m taking you to the mall tomorrow after work. As your dating advisor, I’m responsible for making sure you wear a date outfit when you’re on a date, not an I’m-going-shopping-at-Costco-after-buying-a-plain-coffee-at-Mcdonalds outfit.” 

“Fine, I’ll go shopping with you tomorrow. But I don’t think my outfit is that bad.” Chan 

“Whatever you say,” Tony deadpanned with a stony expression. Chan threw a piece of popcorn at his face and he burst into laughter, unable to hold his joy. 

~

Tony felt that same rush of joy when he saw that Chan was already waiting for him, leaning against the side of Tony’s Prius with his arms crossed.

“Finally! It took you forever to get here.” 

Tony took out his car keys and unlocked the doors of his car as he retorted, “Hey, it’s not my fault my office is so far from the parking lot!” 

As he sat down in the shotgun, Chan teasingly replied, “Sure. I’m sure it doesn’t have to do with the fact that you nap in your office.” 

“Shut up,” Tony muttered, sitting down in the driver’s seat and starting up the car. Music started playing through the speakers and it wasn’t until the song reached the chorus that Chan realized what song was playing. 

“Wait a second, is this Janelle Monáe? Dude, I love her music!” Chan reached over to turn the volume up. 

“Me too! Her songs are all so so so good. ‘Dirty Computer’ is just…” Tony removed a hand from the wheel so he could imitate a chef’s kiss. Chan instinctively smiled at his gesture, and he found it strange that he was starting to grow fond of Tony’s theatrics. 

The first place Tony dragged Chan to at the mall was a store called Luminos Apparel, which Chan never would’ve voluntarily gone to because the clothes were not his style. The skin-tight jeans and colorful, flashy jackets displayed in the store windows all compelled him to stay as far away from the store as possible, but he let Tony grab him by the hand and pull him into the store. 

Admittedly, Chan was a little disappointed when Tony let go of his hand to flip through the shirts on a rack near the entrance of the store. “Okay, so I already have a few outfits in mind that I want you to try.” 

“Already? How? Do you just come up with outfits for people in your spare time?” Chan watched as Tony darted from rack to rack, grabbing different jackets, shirts, and pants. To Chan, Tony seemed to be choosing random articles of clothing, but he trusted him to pick out outfits for him. 

“Uh, something like that,” Tony lied. He didn’t want to truthfully say that he imagined cute outfits only on Chan. As he handed a complete outfit over to Chan, Tony instructed, “Here. Try this outfit on first while I find other ones.” 

“Will do.” Chan took a look at the clothing in his hands skeptically before he walked into a dressing room to change into the outfit. He walked three minutes later in the outfit Tony had chosen him, feeling slightly uncomfortable to be trying out a new style. 

The outfit consisted of a simple white shirt with black stripes, beige pants, and a loose denim jacket. It wasn’t too far from Chan’s usual style, but he wasn’t used to trying on clothes that weren’t from the usual three stores he shopped at. 

“How do I look?” 

Tony, who was in the middle of deciding between two sweaters, glanced up at the sound of Chan’s voice, and his expression softened as he looked Chan up and down carefully. “You look really good.” 

“Really? Thanks,” Chan smiled, feeling a little more confident after Tony’s compliment. Tony’s eyes lingered wistfully for an extra moment before Tony was brought back to reality. 

“Here, try this.” Tony handed Chan a simple black crew neck sweater with a small logo along with a pair of jeans. 

Chan was much more eager to try that outfit out, and as he was changed in the dressing room, he commented, “You don’t have to wait for me, you know. I can just try on these outfits and see which one fits best.” 

“Yeah, but you might need a second opinion,” Tony reasoned, and Chan didn’t ask any further questions. 

With every outfit that Chan tried on, Tony found himself growing fonder and fonder of the scientist. He chose the outfits with the mindset of helping Chan dress properly for his date, but he threw in a few outfits at the end that he thought Chan would look adorable in (such as the oversized white sweater with a couple of rainbow stripes that ran across the front). 

In the end, Chan settled on buying almost half of the outfits that Tony had chosen for him. The only reason he didn’t buy all of them was that he felt bad splurging money on clothes, something he never did. Tony would’ve honestly offered to buy the other outfits, but he didn’t want to overstep his boundaries and seem more enamored with Chan than he already seemed. 

As Chan and Tony were walking through the mall, Tony spotted something through the display window of a shop and paused. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Chan patiently waited, holding the bags of clothing, as he watched Tony walk into the store and pick up a trinket. Tony paid for whatever he had picked up and walked out of the store with a bright grin on his face. 

“Here. I saw this and I thought of you so I got it for you. It’ll be your good luck charm for your date,” Tony explained, handing a tiny glass plant charm to Chan. 

“Thank you. That’s really nice of you.” Chan accepted the gift with his free hand and his smile widened as he felt how smooth the glass was. The charm was such a thoughtful gift and Chan gave Tony an appreciative look, hoping that Tony knew how grateful he was to have somebody as sweet as him in his life.

Tony glanced slyly over at Chan as he quipped. “Now, let’s get out of here. The second half of ‘Dirty Computer’ isn’t going to listen to itself.” 

~

The next day, Tony was greeted by an enthusiastic Chan who ran into his office with a giant grin on his face. “I did it, Tony!” 

“Did what?” Tony sleepily lifted his head from his desk. Moments earlier, he had been napping on his desk because being a social media manager was a very tiring job and he needed to recharge after trying to engage in Star Trek discourse on Twitter. 

“I asked her out! She said yes. We’re going on a date at this restaurant in a town nearby tonight, and I’m gonna wear the jean jacket outfit that you picked out yesterday. It’s gonna be awesome.” Chan grinned so radiantly that Tony couldn’t find it in himself to show that he was upset.

Mustering what he hoped to be an equally as thrilled smile, Tony sat up a little straight and “That’s great! I’m really happy for you.” 

Chan walked over to where Tony was sitting and gave him a warm hug that made him tear up a bit because it made him realize that there truly was no chance of him and Chan getting together. Still, Tony hugged Chan back, grateful for any scraps of affection he could get. “Thank you, Tony. I couldn’t have done it without your help.” 

“Nah, it’s really no problem at all. Happy to help. Hope it goes well.” 

Only when Chan pulled away and left the room with a grin still on his face did Tony allow himself to drop his act. He knew that this would happen eventually; after all, he had literally agreed to help Chan achieve this goal knowing that there was no chance that he would have a chance with him. So, why couldn’t he shake the horrible feeling of knowing that Chan would be going on a date with somebody who wasn’t him? 

~

Later that evening, as Tony curled up on his couch and played his comfort movies to avoid imagining how happy Angela was making Chan on their date, Chan was struggling with confronting his feelings. 

Initially, Chan had been so pumped to go on the dinner date with Angela, but once he was actually on the date, he started to realize that he had been idealizing what going on a date with Angela would be like. On multiple occasions, he caught himself thinking about what Tony was doing instead of paying attention to what Angela was talking about. Maybe it was because he had the small glass plant charm Tony bought him tucked away in the pocket of his jean jacket.

As Angela talked about how her sister was planning to visit her soon, Chan looked down at his plate of penne and realized that it felt wrong to be thinking of his dinner with her in a romantic way. 

As much as Chan loved spending time with Angela, he couldn’t really see himself dating a person he had grown so used to being friends with. Angela noted Chan’s frown and put down her fork. “Are you okay? You seem kinda off.” 

“Can I be real for a second?” Chan sighed and rolled his shoulders back as he confessed, “I don’t think this date was a good idea. I thought that I was into you romantically, but I think, realistically, we’d be better off as friends.” 

Instead of reacting with anger, which is what Chan had expected, Angela placed a hand over her heart and let out a breath of relief. “Oh, thank god. I’m actually super relieved because, like, two minutes into our date, I was thinking to myself ‘dude, this is so weird.’” 

“Really? Well, I’m glad you’re not mad at me for leading you on.” 

“No, no. Not at all. I’m cool with it.” Angela picked up her fork and stabbed a few pieces of lettuce in her bowl of salad. “Besides, I figured you had a thing for Fuck Tony.” 

Chan nearly choked on air. “Tony? Him?” 

“Yeah, I saw you guys at lunch together the other day, and you were looking at him with big heart eyes. He was giving them right back at you, so I thought you guys were having a thing,” Angela nonchalantly reasoned. Chan, on the other hand, was anything but calm when the realization hit him like a pile of bricks: he had accidentally fallen for Tony.

In hindsight, it made sense. Chan having feelings for Tony would explain why he enjoyed kissing him so much. It would also explain why he had that weird, fluttery feeling of adoration rise in his chest when Tony complimented how he looked. 

Chan felt strangely liberated by his conclusion but remembered that Tony still had no clue how Chan felt about him. He stood up in a rush as he realized that Tony was probably alone thinking about Chan on his date. “Oh my god. Tony. I have to go. Can you pay the bill? I promise I’ll pay you back tomorrow.” 

“You got it. Good luck!” Angela called after Chan, who was running out of the restaurant. 

He drove his car as fast as he could to get to Tony’s house, driven by an unexpected adrenaline rush. When he got to Tony’s house and knocked on the door, Chan tried to catch his breath as he waited for Tony to open the door. 

It took a few moments for Tony, who wore Hello Kitty pajama bottoms and a plain white t-shirt, to open the door. He looked very puzzled to see Chan at his front door. “Chan? What are you doing here? Don’t you have your date with Angela?” 

“Tony, I like you a lot, and I should’ve told you this earlier but I also just realized, like ten minutes ago, that I caught feelings for you. I can’t believe it took me going on a date with one of my closest friends to realize that I actually really really like you,” confessed Chan. The adrenaline wore off, and his brain started working again, making him realize that he probably sounded out of his mind when he confessed. 

As much as Chan wanted to grab his words and shove them back into his mouth, he couldn’t wish them out of existence. He had laid all his cards out on the table, and there was no turning back.

Tony blinked vacantly. “This is real, right? You aren’t just practicing a confession on me or-” 

Chan answered his question by placing his hands on the sides of Tony’s face, getting up on his tippy toes, and pulling Tony into a kiss. Tony instinctively coiled his arms around Chan’s waist and brought him closer, recalling how wonderful Chan’s kisses were.

“Oh, okay. So it’s real then. Good,” Tony happily smiled down at Chan. “I like you a lot too. By the way, is it just me or does this kind of feel like a rom-com?”

“No, this is definitely some romcom shit,” Chan replied before Tony pulled him into another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> pls leave a comment or a kudo on your way out! :D


End file.
